Despite initially dismissing a tired Fifties house, Sarah and Ken Loveday took another look and saw it could become the spacious family home they needed.  When Sarah Loveday and her husband Ken first saw a ‘soulless’ Fifties home in Leamington Spa, they dismissed it out of hand. ‘There wasn’t much I liked about the house – apart from the fact that it offered us the space that we needed,’ says Sarah, a brand designer and interiors stylist. ‘We told the estate agent we weren’t interested and the house soon sold. But then it came back on to the market.’ The estate agent persuaded Sarah to look again. ‘With some reluctance, we realised it was just what we needed,’ she says. ‘It was dull, plain and empty – but offered us plenty of space. Annie, our middle child, was just three weeks old at the time and we were desperate for more room.’ But the family faced an unexpected challenge when they moved in that almost put a stop to renovation plans. ‘The house was infested with rats,’ says Sarah. ‘It was horrendous. For the first nine months, we weren’t sure if we’d stay because we just couldn’t get rid of them. They were in the cavity space above the kitchen, the sitting room and the studio – knowing they were there was horrible. It wasn’t until they were gone that we felt we could start making the house ours.’ The first task was to widen the hallway, which Sarah describes as narrow and out of proportion to the rest of the house. ‘We had plenty of space in the sitting room, so we pushed that wall back. We also put in a new front door and added a chimney breast to the sitting room, which made a real difference as it gave the room a much-needed focal point.’ Working to a budget, the couple decided to postpone doing a full kitchen renovation, instead fitting new Shakerstyle cupboard fronts for a fresh look. ‘We didn’t start the loft until three years – and another baby – later,’ says Sarah. ‘The space was boarded and separated into two rooms joined by a narrow corridor, and there were windows, but nothing else. We did originally plan on putting two bedrooms upstairs but instead we moved a few walls around and turned one of the rooms into a large en suite.’ With the loft conversion finished, the children – Bella, now nine, Annie, seven, and Todd, five, had the space they needed – and Sarah and Ken had their own attic sanctuary to escape to. Downstairs, the sitting room is full of character and colour, with an eclectic, bohemian mix of vintage prints and artwork, cushions, rugs, antiques and treasures that fill the space with personality. ‘I adore textiles and antiques,’ says Sarah. ‘I like nothing more than scouring auction houses for pieces and picking up textiles on our travels to fill the house with – it gives it so much soul.’ As the house dates from the Fifties, Sarah has incorporated this era into her aesthetic by sourcing vintage furniture online and reupholstering mid-century chairs in bright fabrics. ‘Colour is such a joyful thing to have in your home,’ she says. ‘But I never want my interiors to feel too garish or contrived so I ground them with natural textures like jute and wood. ‘It’s been seven years since we moved in and it has taken time to get the house to a place where it feels like our home,’ Sarah continues. ‘It’s been a slow process and moving to a more modern house was definitely a compromise, but now we love the space we’ve created here.

 Pared-back design and a pretty palette of neutrals and pastels are the hallmarks of Rosemary and Justin Bickers’ serene home.  Striking a balance between minimalism and warmth is a tricky task for any homeowner, but add four small children into the mix and you’d be forgiven for giving up on style altogether and heading straight down the ‘practical’ route. This hasn’t been the case for Rosemary and Justin Bickers, who – over the past six years – have turned an unloved doer-upper into a beautiful haven for their family, which includes Alfie, seven, Tom, six, Daisy, four, and Dorothy, six months. ‘We had been searching for the right property for over a year,’ says Rosemary. ‘My late father had been hoping we’d stay close to my family home and he was delighted when we found a house just 10 doors down from it.’ Although the property was in need of a complete overhaul, Rosemary wasn’t fazed. She had grown up on the road and over the years had been in many of the neighbours’ houses, so had seen how they had been reworked. It also helped that Justin is an electrical contractor specialising in lighting solutions. The first room to be tackled was the kitchen. ‘It was really dated,’ says Rosemary. ‘It was going to be a big job, but we had to be practical and do it on a budget and in stages as there was so much more to be done in the house.’ New electrics and plumbing, plus replastering and repainting throughout were also on the to-do list. After careful planning and budgeting, it was decided that phase one would be to extend out at the back and into the side return to get a bigger kitchen and also a cloakroom. The old cabinetry was replaced with pale-grey, Shaker-style units that have a clean, crisp look, but also give the room character. Phase two of the downstairs renovation was knocking through to the garage to create a dining space and a family room, both of which are linked to the kitchen through large openings. The dining room also has floor-toceiling glazed doors that lead out to the garden. One area downstairs that hasn’t received Rosemary and Justin’s magic touch yet is the sitting room. ‘We decided to keep it as a traditional “best room”,’ says Rosemary. ‘We will get around to doing it up in the future, but it hasn’t been a priority so far.’ The children’s rooms and Rosemary and Justin’s own bedroom were phase three and all have been decorated in off-whites with pretty pastel accents for a serene feel. Rosemary also likes to buy original artwork to give each room personality. ‘Styling my home feeds my creativity,’ she says. ‘I also take a lot of inspiration from places we’ve visited or hotels we’ve stayed in. The Swan Hotel, nearby in Southwold, is one I love. And my mum is great with colour and has a good eye, so I’ll often ask for her advice. She’s also a lover of collecting ornaments – just like me!’ And are Rosemary and Justin happy with all they have achieved? ‘Definitely,’ says Rosemary. ‘The family room is my little hygge nest. It’s my favourite area of the house to sit while the children play and I’m feeding the baby. I also love our dining room. It’s where the family comes together to feast and to chat. Luckily, we all love our food. Simplicity and balance is what we wanted to achieve, and I think it’s what makes this home such a happy one.’

 When the Boldings moved into their neglected Victorian villa, they couldn’t wait to start their top-to-toe revamp.  Hannah and Jasper Bolding were no strangers to property renovation but it wasn’t until they collected the keys to their new home in Brighton that Hannah realised the enormity of the work that lay ahead. ‘The property was everything we’d been looking for – a double-fronted period house with a good-sized garden – but it was in a horrendous state,’ she says. ‘The kitchen was grimy and old, the windows were mouldy and the bathroom was disgusting – all the woodwork was painted in a bright blue gloss. Our daughter Mya was just five at the time and I thought we’d bitten off more than we could chew.’ With carpets being laid and floors due to be sanded in the next few days, the couple didn’t waste any time. Juggling childcare with friends and family, Hannah and Jasper worked into the small hours to make the property feel more homely. ‘We got the brushes out and got on with it,’ she says. ‘I started by painting over the blue gloss throughout the house with an eggshell white and then I painted the old red kitchen units a soft grey as a stop gap before we had new cabinets fitted. ‘We just made it more easy on the eye – although now, whenever you bash the woodwork any chips reveal bright blue!’ As veteran renovators, Hannah and Jasper, a quantity surveyor, were aware that waiting for planning permission can hold up vital building works, and decided to submit their application for the kitchen extension before the sale was completed. ‘It was a risk, but we were hopeful as we weren’t in a chain,’ says Hannah. Thankfully, it paid off, and the builders were able to start work on the kitchen extension on schedule, four months after the couple moved in. ‘We took down a wall, extended into the side return to create a utility area, squared off an arch to modernise the space and erected a wall inside made from reclaimed Sussex bricks,’ says Hannah. ‘It all went very smoothly.’ The finished kitchen in white gloss has a contemporary feel, which fits Hannah’s design philosophy. ‘A Shaker-style kitchen might date, but clean lines and neutral colours are timeless,’ she says. ‘The exposed brickwork and worn wood help prevent the white units looking too clinical and sterile.’ Hannah decided to experiment with dark walls in the snug, just off the kitchen, sticking to her neutral design aesthetic but using black paint for a dramatic, luxe effect. ‘I wanted to do something different in this room without committing to the whole house,’ she says. ‘It’s a dark space anyway, with no natural light, so the opulent accessories and black walls work.’ Upstairs, the old bathrooms were ripped out. In fact, the only element of the original master bathroom that Hannah kept was the enamel bath. ‘It was immaculate,’ she says, ‘but everything else needed gutting.’ While the couple didn’t have a strict renovation budget, they tried to make savings where possible. ‘We funded the purchase with equity from our last property, topped up with savings,’ says Hannah, ‘but we did things gradually to keep an eye on figures. We also tried to do what we could ourselves to keep costs down.’ Hannah and Jasper both work, so finding time to decorate wasn’t easy. ‘It’s surprising what you can get done in an hour,’ says Hannah. ‘It never looks as good as a professional painter, but it’s much cheaper. I also painted the fireplace tiles in the sitting room; as soon as I’d done that, the space looked more modern. Little tweaks can make a huge difference, without costing you a fortune.’